Thursday, September 20, 2012

Changing Expectations

It’s no secret that student’s
expectations when walking through the door often differ from the way in which
the Writing Center actually works. Some expectations concern what we do, what
we don’t do, and what the student is supposed to leave with. Some students have
no idea what we do, and we can easily change their expectations, or lack
thereof, so that they have a positive experience in the Writing Center. The
students who come in expecting one thing and cannot change their expectations or
accept what we do are the students who leave frustrated.

The most difficult students to
work with are the students who think we are an editing service. They assumes
that we take their paper, mark it up, and hand back an A paper. These students
do not want to learn and do not want to listen. Some of these false assumptions
can be nipped in the bud by explaining what we do right from the start,
especially if the student admits to not knowing what we do. “We are tutors not
editors” is a point that needs to be emphasized. I once had a session with a
student who would have been happy if I never opened my mouth and if she never
had to either. When she was actually listening and paying attention, she cut me
off in the middle of explanations, brushing them off saying “Yeah I know.” The
problem was that, based on her paper, she clearly did not know. At the end of
the session, the only time she actually made eye contact with me, she asked if
she had an A paper. After explaining that I couldn’t promise her an A, she left
angry and frustrated, although I’m not sure that that mood was any worse than
the one she walked in with. She was a student who would not have changed her
expectations even if I were able to have explained that we don’t just correct
papers.

On the other side of expectations
are the students who come in and don’t expect us to do anything for them. They
are there for a brown slip and credit. It can be fun to change these students’
expectations. I once had a session where a student prefaced the session by explaining
that he did not want to change anything, the paper was just how he wanted it
and he was only there because his professor required it. This student’s paper
was very well written and well organized, but I was still able to point out
some areas where he could expand, some areas where his point wasn’t clear, and I
helped him to refocus his thesis, which ended up not being the point he had
made by the time he was finished writing the paper. Although his paper was
good, arguable an A paper for the class level and assignment requirements, this
student actually cared about his paper, and I was able to help him improve it.
He expected to walk in the door and take nothing from the session but a brown
slip, but he was pleasantly surprised.

Expectations can certainly hinder
a session when they aren’t met, but we can change expectation for the better so
that students can have a positive experience when they come to see us.